Many clients, especially those who require fingerprint or other security clearance for their jobs, want to know if their employers, friends, and family can find out that they’ve been arrested for a DUI.

In Arizona, a DUI charge or conviction can have lasting consequences. Besides the immediate risks of jail, fines, and classes, it can have a long-lasting impact on employment. We have previously discussed how a DUI can affect a professional license, but a DUI can also have an impact on your fingerprint clearance card

For many people, a DUI charge is their first exposure to the criminal justice system in Arizona. Everyone has heard that having a felony conviction is bad and can cost you your job, professional license, or even your housing. So one of the most frequent questions I get is “Is my DUI charge a felony?” In most circumstances, a first time DUI charge in Arizona is a misdemeanor, not a felony.

A DUI arrest can be scary. Police hand you a stack of papers. They take your driver’s license and replace it with a piece of paper, they give you a court date, they may have towed your car. The next few weeks will be full of things to do related to your arrest. This guide will answer the most common questions we hear from people recently arrested for DUI.

Starting in 2019, Utah will become the first state in the country to lower the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) “legal limit” to 0.05. Every other state has a BAC legal limit of 0.08. The term legal limit refers to how much alcohol you can have in your blood while driving. However, in Arizona, it is possible to get a DUI even if your BAC is BELOW the legal limit.

There are a lot of misconceptions about DUI law out there, and about how long it takes for alcohol to leave a person’s system. Often when we talk with clients who have been charged with DUI, they are confused about how they got there.

If a police officer suspects you are driving under the influence, he or she may have you perform field sobriety tests. Often, the officer will not even ask you if you consent to the tests – they will just start doing them. So you may be thinking – do I have to do the tests?

Following a DUI arrest, you may concerned about your future – wondering how a DUI charge may affect future jobs. Unfortunately, in Arizona, you cannot expunge a criminal conviction. That means once you have a conviction, it will always stay on your record. This is why it is important to try to avoid a conviction, if at all possible. If you are facing DUI charges, consult with a lawyer to find your best options.

Under Arizona law, all DUI convictions come with mandatory jail time. This jail time can be as little as one day for a first time conviction, or could go all the way up to years for multiple felony convictions. The amount of jail time you are facing depends on if you have any prior DUI convictions and what your BAC (blood alcohol content) was when you were arrested.